Millions of truckers from across the country are set to go on an indefinite strike from tomorrow, demanding a slew of꧋ actions from government, including lowering diesel prices and toll fees, a uni🔯on leader said on Friday.
Unionised truckers claim over 9.3 million members and the strike𝓰 was announced on May 17.
Government is engaged in last ditc🌜h efforts to persuade truckers in the highly road transport concentrated economy not to go ahead with their call, officials said.
"We held a meeting with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari today but that was inconclusive. We are meeting finance minister Piyush Goyal at 2130 hrs today," Bal Malkit Singh, chairman of the All-India Motor Trans♎port Congress core committee, told PTI over phone.
He, however, sounded sceptical if any solution can🌳 be found during the late night meeting♈ and added that the strike will go on as announced.
Singh said truckers will stop rollingꦫ from 0600 hrs tomorrow and pegged the likely dai꧒ly loss at Rs 4,000 crore for them.
Tru♔ckers key demands include reduction in Central and state taxes by getting diesel under the GST so that price of the deregulatedꦐ commodity can be reduced, he said.
Singh said truckers are also against the "flawed and non-transparent" toll collection system that favours road concessione🧸rs, and alleged that the time and fuel loss goes up to Rs ꦿ1.5 trillion annually on account of it.
🌸Truckers are also miffed at high insurance premia and want a reduction in third-party prem𝓡ium, exemption on third- party premia from GST, he said.
Apart from this, they are als💖o pressing for exemptions and abolitions in direct taxes, national permits for all buses and trucks and also doing away with the direct port delivery tendering system, he said.
When contacted, an official close to Gadkari's office said during ꦉthe meeting, transporters were told that instant solutions cannot be found to their demands but assured them the government is looking at all the demands sensitively.
&quo𒅌t;We are very open to look into all the♎ir issues and hope that better sense prevails," the ministry official said.
Meanwhile, the School Bus and Company Bus Owners Association of Mahara🗹shtra extended their support to the trcukers strike.
The association runs around 8,000 buses in Mumbai and 40,000 buses across the state. "All these buses will be off the road tomorrow," Anil Gargও, a💧ssociation president told PTI.
He said although truckers are planning an indefꦆinite strike his association will off the road for only a day, to show solidarity.
Established in 1936, the All-India Motor Transport Congress and callღs itself as the apex body of transporters representin൲g over 93 lakh truckers and around 50 lakh buses, tourist taxi and cab operators.
PTI
